Quality showings at overseas opener

Sam Murley

Published Feb 26, 2020 at 8:00 am
(Updated Feb 25, 2020 at 7:55 pm)

Strong Showing: Quality Gymnastics who impressed in their first overseas meeting of the season at the Presidential Classic in Orlando, Florida. Head coach Anna Balada, left alongside Azalea Pontes, back centre, coach Kinae Dowling, back right, Sean Lawrence, front left and Avani Patton

Quality Gymnastics enjoyed an impressive outing in their first overseas meet of the season, claiming a host of top-three finishes at the Presidential Classic in Orlando, Florida.

The club travelled with nine gymnasts competing over four different skill levels to the meet, which hosted more than 3,000 competitors of all ages and nationalities.

Representing the club at Level 6 was a team consisting of Azalea Pontes, Avani Patton and Sean Lawrence. It proved a memorable meet for Pontes, who obtained scores of 9,375 on vault, placing her first, 9,600 on bars, to finish second, 9,175 on beam and 9,075 on floor, which secured her first place all-round.

Avani Patton and Lawrence made the step up from Level 4 and were competing in their first Level 6 meet. Avani Patton scored 8,875 on vault, 9,250 on bars, placing her third, 8,625 on beam and 9,000 on floor to finish in a promising fifth all-round.

Lawrence scored 8,725 on vault to win that event, 8,825 on bars, 8,925 on beam and 9,100 on floor to place fifth all-round. Despite only having a team of three gymnasts at Level 6, Quality Gymnastics finished a highly respectable fifth out ten teams.

Competing in Level 4 was Ajana Patton and Alyssa Andrews. Ajana Patton obtained an 8,950 on vault, 8,900 on bars, placing third, 8,850 on beam, and a 9,400 that resulted in first place on floor and third all-round. Andrews scored 8,825 on vault, 8,550 on bars, 8,650 on beam and 8,975 on floor to place fifth all-round.

Shartati Smith, Caitlyn Brodie and Blake Boden competed as a team in Xcel Gold: Smith scored a 9,050 on vault, securing fourth position, 9,425 on bars, 8,700 on beam and 9,400 on floor securing another fourth place and sixth all-round. Boden clinched 8,900 on vault, 9,300 on bars, 9,250 on beam and 9,300 on floor to also finish sixth overall in her group.

It also proved a memorable meet for Brodie who, having recently returned from injury, placed second on vault with a score of 9,500 and first on bars with a 9,775, which is one of the top 100 US bars scores of the year. She also scored 8,225 on beam and 9,300 on the floor, to secure an impressive third-place finish overall.

Just like their Level 6 team-mates, as a team of only three gymnasts, they finished a promising sixth out of ten teams in total.

Also moving up a level and competing on her own was Alexandra Daniel who flourished in the Xcel Silver level She scored a 9,350 on vault, placing second, a 9,450 on bars, a 9,325 on beam and a 9,275 on floor to finish second overall and cap off an impressive outing for the club under head coach Anna Balada.

Quality showings at overseas opener

What youNeed toKnow

1. For a smooth experience with our commenting system we recommend that you use Internet Explorer 10 or higher, Firefox or Chrome Browsers. Additionally please clear both your browser's cache and cookies - How do I clear my cache and cookies?
2. Please respect the use of this community forum and its users.
3. Any poster that insults, threatens or verbally abuses another member, uses defamatory language, or deliberately disrupts discussions will be banned.
4. Users who violate the Terms of Service or any commenting rules will be banned.
5. Please stay on topic. "Trolling" to incite emotional responses and disrupt conversations will be deleted.
6. To understand further what is and isn't allowed and the actions we may take, please read our Terms of Service